Following the success of M3GAN in 2022, it seems like the horror film’s sequel was guaranteed to be a big hit.
But it so M3GAN 2.0 far holds a rotten 57% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has failed to score big at the box office.
Directed by Gerard Johnstone, the sequel follows the events of the first film, picking up two years later as Gemma (Allison Williams) has become an advocate for government oversight of AI.
She is forced to resurrect her murderous creation after a defence contractor creates a military-grade weapon known as Amelia, whose self-awareness increases to deadly levels, forcing M3GAN to bring her down.
Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, and Jen Van Epps all reprised their roles from the prior film, while Ivanna Sakhno, Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari and Jemaine Clement joined the cast.
After being slammed by critics as ‘a downgrade’ and ‘thoroughly middling’, producer Jason Blum has shared why he believed the sequel did not connect with fans.
‘We all thought M3GAN was like Superman,’ he told The Town podcast. ‘We could do anything to her. We could change genres. We could put her in the summer. We could make her look different. We could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy.
‘And we classically overthought how powerful people’s engagement was, really, with her.’
He also cited the film’s genre shift, from a bloody horror to more of an action-comedy, as another factor, as well as the film’s summer release.
‘We thought she could live in the summer, right? We thought, “We’re going from a little movie to a tentpole!”‘
In their review, The New Yorker wrote: ‘M3GAN 2.0 has little dramatic shape and no directorial style. In striving for more than the original, it achieves far less.’
Rolling Stone added: ‘Her model is 2.0. The overbaked, underwhelming, narratively restless movie itself is 0.0 percent watchable.’
The Hollywood Reporter said: ‘A convoluted mishmash with shades of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mission: Impossible and the Austin Powers franchise. There are amusing moments reminiscent of the original, but in terms of tone and coherence, the movie loses its way.’
However, others said that the film is ‘a blast’ and ‘a campy delight.’
MovieFreak.com reasoned: ‘[M3GAN 2.0] is proof that bigger isn’t always better. But that doesn’t mean this goofy, far too convoluted sequel still can’t be a gigantic amount of fun.’
M3GAN 2.0 is in cinemas now
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